SCAN: News and resources for Southern California appellate lawyers, featuring the Second and Fourth District Courts of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Data shows average appeal time increasing in California

That's the title of today's DJ article by Sedgwick's Kirk Jenkins, who's made a careful study of Cal Supreme Court stats. He reports that the average time from a grant of review in the Cal Supreme Court to an opinion in a civil case has increased about 25% from the early 2000s (556 days) to today (about 700 days). Criminal lag time has also been steadily increasing (e.g., 1,892 days in 2015), but this is skewed by including death penalty cases. Removing them from the equation results in a closer parity between civil and criminal cases (740 days in 2015).

A longer time from argument to opinion is also an indicator that a split opinion is likely, with divided decisions taking two to three weeks longer than unanimous opinions. The average time is about 70 days.